Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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526. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reasons the group examining developing post offices as hubs has not yet convened; when it is due to convene; the level of commitment on behalf of the Government to developing Post Offices as social Hubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22127/16]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government is fully committed to its policy that An Post should remain a strong, viable company in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a national network of customer focused post offices in the community. The post office network plays an important role in serving the needs of business and domestic customers alike.

In recognition of the changing commercial environment, the previous Government established the Post Office Network Business Development Group, the remit of which was to examine the potential from existing and new Government and commercial business that could be transacted through the post office network.

The final report of the group, which was published in January of this year, details 23 recommendations, including examining the development of a number of Post Offices as social hubs. The Programme for a Partnership Governmentcommits to acting on all of these recommendations, and responsibility for implementation of the recommendations in the final report has recently transferred to my Department, along with a number of staff with expertise on the matter

The first meeting of the Post Office Hubs Working Group, which I will chair, will take place on 27 July.